Nerd Nite Boston

Author Archive

Dear Nerdnite Boston Google group,

The next Nerdnite will take place Monday August 30 at the Middlesex
lounge.  Be there and be square!  For all the details about the talks,
please check out this link:
http://boston.nerdnite.com/2010/08/22/nerdnite-august-30/

O Nerds of Boston (and environs),

The latest exciting edition of Nerdnite is on tap for Monday August 30, at the Middlesex (details below). Those of you making your way back to town for the start of the fall semester — or possibly showing up for the first time — are going to arrive just in time for a fantastic night of nerdery. I can’t tell you how eager I am to hear both of these presentations…. One of our speakers has written a book that is so perfect for a Nerdnite talk that it really should have been the first title from Nerdnite Press…if only there were such a thing. Even though there isn’t, we’re doing the second-best thing: We’re celebrating the release of the paperback version of Ethan Gilsdorf’s “Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks” by having him come in to tell us his story.

And the other speaker — how could he top that? Well, he’ll be explaining how he can control your brain with lasers. Trust me folks – this one is not to be missed. As always, DJ Claude Money will provide the nerd-appropriate tunes.

The talks:
1. “Mind Control and Optogenetics: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Virus”
by Azriel Ghadooshahy

Azriel is a graduate student in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. His current work aims to elucidate neural primitives of how the brain’s executive control system copes with environmental uncertainty and unpredictability. These studies employ optogenetics, a revolutionary technology that enables selective manipulations of neural circuits with light. Ostensibly, his goal is advancing scientific progress and discovering new therapies for incurable diseases of the brain. However, his other motivations may or may not include mind control and world domination.

2. “Tolkien, D&D, RPGs, MMOs and me: one geek’s personal journey there
and back again through fantasy and gaming subcultures.”
by Ethan Gilsdorf

Back in the Reagan Administration, Ethan Gilsdorf played Dungeons &
Dragons every Friday night from 8th grade to senior year in high
school, read a crapload of science fiction and fantasy, and wasted his
allowance playing Galaga and Robotron 2084 at his local arcade. Now
he’s all growed up (mostly) and felt compelled to explore his geeky
past and present in his travel memoir / pop culture investigation
“Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role
Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms.”
Gilsdorf lives in Somerville, where he writes on arts, travel and pop
culture for the New York Times, Boston Globe, Christian Science
Monitor, Washington Post, and Psychology Today, and trawls the
Internet for rumors of the movie adaption of “The Hobbit.” More info:
http://www.ethangilsdorf.com/.

Be There and Be Square!
Monday August 30, 8pm
Middlesex Lounge
315 Mass Ave
Cambridge, MA
$5
www.boston.nerdnite.com
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52318050296
http://twitter.com/nerdniteboston
http://www.flickr.com/groups/nerdnite/

Hello Nerdnite Google Group,
The next Nerdnite will take place Monday July 26.  For full details
please follow this link:
http://boston.nerdnite.com/2010/07/18/nerdnitejuly26/

Be there and be square!

Hello Nerdnite Google Group,
The next Nerdnite will take place Monday July 26. For full details
please follow this link:
[link]

Be there and be square!

Dear nerds of Boston (and their friends),
For many of you, summer is probably a welcome break from your academic nerdy pursuits.  But if you’re hankering for a brief dose of summertime nerdery, we’ve got you covered.  The next Nerdnite will be Monday July 26, at the Middlesex Lounge, starting at 8pm (full details below).  As usual, we’ve got two fantastic talks lined up, interspersed with nerd-appropriate tunes by DJ Claude Money.

Talk 1:  “Joystick Soldiers: Fifty Years of Videogames and War”
By Nina Huntemann
Nina first starting playing videogames in 1978 on a Sears clone of the Atari 2600 and, when her father wasn’t looking, on the TI-99/4A he bought at Toys R Us in 1981. She has managed to turn her love of gaming into a career at Suffolk University, where she was granted tenure last year for, among other things, publishing a book about videogames and the military.

Talk 2: “Crazy Vision: The Science Behind Popular Optical Illusions”
By Brandon Moore
Brandon is a graduate from MIT where he studied brain and cognitive sciences.  When not studying how the brain does vision he enjoys reading, playing video games, and coming up with bad ideas.

Be there and be square!
Monday July 26, 8pm
Middlesex Lounge
315 Mass Ave (Central Square)
Cambridge, MA
$5
www.boston.nerdnite.com
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52318050296

Dear Nerdnite Boston Google group,
The next Nerdnite event is coming up next Sunday.  Please check this
link for all the details including the subjects of the talks:
http://boston.nerdnite.com/2010/06/20/nerdnite-june-27/

Be there and be square!

Hello nerds of summer,

The next Nerdnite will be a special SUNDAY edition, June 27 (8pm) at Middlesex Lounge. There’s no better way to finish off your weekend than with a little bit o’ nerdery…so we hope you’ll join us next Sunday for some edutainment and beer. As always, DJ Claude Money will provide nerd-appropriate tunes.  The lineup:

Talk 1:
“That’s What She Said: Creating and Using Personal Narratives”
by Jessica Bitely
History is made by the winners, but sometimes the losers have a lot to say. This talk will explain how the making and use of oral histories can expand our understanding of the past. Jessica is a once and future librarian with a passion for other people’s stories. With family from West Virginia, friends in Florida, and her heart in Texas, she has learned to love tall tales and exaggerations, and she is always willing to speculate on things she knows nothing about. (But she totally knows about conducting oral histories.)

Talk 2: “Welcome to St. Augustine”
by Mary Lewey
Using 5 cameras (film and digital) to explore the history and culture of our nation’s oldest city, this presentation is a documentation of time and place, of old meeting new. Mary is a writer, photographer and bon vivant currently living in Jamaica Plain with her cat, Graham Greene. Oh, and she almost forgot to mention: she is co-organizer of Nerdnite Boston.

Be there and be square
Sunday June 27 8pm
Middlesex Lounge
315 Mass Ave, Cambridge
$5
www.boston.nerdnite.com
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52318050296

Hello Boston nerds and friends of nerds,

Wrap up your Memorial Day grilling early and come out to the Middlesex
for a nerdy kick-off to summer.  The Nerdnite barbecue is cookin’ up a
ton of nerd-o-licious info about beer brewing and internet chicanery.
We hope you’ll join us at 8pm on Monday May

Hello Boston nerds and friends of nerds,

Wrap up your Memorial Day grilling early and come out to the Middlesex for a nerdy kick-off to summer.  The Nerdnite barbecue is cookin’ up a ton of nerd-o-licious info about beer brewing and internet chicanery.  We hope you’ll join us at 8pm on Monday May 31.  As always, musical entertainment will be courtesy of DJ Claude Money.

The talks:
1. Preparing for the next prohibition: a primer on brewing your own beer.
by Desika Narayanan

Desika likes snowboarding, playing basketball, brewing beer and doing astronomy. Unfortunately (for him), he sucks at the first three enough that he only gets paid to do the latter. Fortunately (for you), he practices the penultimate enough that he’s able to give this talk. He’ll tell you exactly how to put sugar, yeast and water in a bucket and turn it into the sweet, sweet, delicious alcohol that your brain loves so much. And the best part is that what comes out tastes like a million times better than bud light. (Disclaimer: This is coming from an Indian [dot not feather] bred in the south on natty light.)

2. Attack of the Packets!: A brief history of Internet Denial of Service attacks.
by Karthik Arumugham
Karthik has been active in the Internet network engineering community for the past 11 years, both in operations as well as research and development. He currently works as a consultant in the fields of IP networking and security, Unix systems engineering, and software development. Karthik strongly agrees with the notion of hosting geeky talks in the presence of good beer!

Be there and be square
Monday May 31 8pm
Middlesex Lounge
315 Mass Ave, Cambridge
$5
www.boston.nerdnite.com
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52318050296

Hello blog readers,

We love DJ Claude Money’s nerdy music so much, we’re going to post the playlist after each Nerdnite.  Thanks to Sean for keeping track of everything! And for playing MC Solaar.

Here’s the playlist from April:
Donald Byrd places and spaces
Eddie palmieri. Harlem river drive
Doris ebong. Boogie trip.
Althea and donna. Oh dread
Biz markie. It’s spring again.
Freddie Scott. (you) got what I need
Stevie wonder. Hey love.
Sir jablonsky. Juck juck part 1
Mc solaar. Nouveau western.
Serge gainsbourg. Aux armes et caetera
Lee Dorsey. Workin in a coal mine.
First speaker.
Tv on the radio. Halfway home.
Portishead. Wandering star.
Gangstarr. Words I manifest.
Harlem underground. Ain’t no sunshine
Second speaker
Betty Lavette. What condition my condition was in.
Ernie k. Doe. A certain girl
The remains. Diddy wah diddy
The del Vikings. Cool shake
Marc Aryan. Liberte
M. F. B. Boredom pain
Co real artists. What about you (in the world today)
Stevie wonder. Bang bang.
Incredible bongo band. Inna gadda da vida.
Nina Simone. The pusher (live version)